Chicago -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Hundreds of thousands of Chicago schoolchildren will return to class Wednesday after the teachers union voted to suspend its strike .

About 800 union officers and delegates met for just over two hours before there was an overwhelming voice vote to suspend the walkout , union leaders said Tuesday .

The contract agreement with the school system still needs to be ratified by the more than 29,000 teachers and support staff who are members of the union . Karen Lewis , union president , said the rank and file will vote in `` the next couple of weeks . ''

Chicago Public Schools , the third-largest U.S. school system , and the union struck a tentative bargain Friday afternoon . But on Sunday , union members decided to continue the walkout while they reviewed the proposal .

`` Well , I think it is the best deal we could get at this moment in time , '' Lewis said before the meeting . Afterwards , she said there was no such thing as a perfect contract , and that not every member of the union would be pleased .

That included people like Benita Whitfield Shanklin , a social worker who voted no on Tuesday .

`` I have two different feelings at the same time -- happy that we are so solid and we 're a tight working unit , '' she said , `` but at the same time I 'm sad that we were n't able to make any progress on class sizes and the school closures . We have a lot of parents that were supporting us , and I feel like we let them down . ''

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the new contract is `` an honest compromise . ''

Emanuel highlighted the fact that the new school day would be longer for many students . He said that a child who enters kindergarten under the terms of the new agreement would receive 2 1/2 more years of instruction by the time he graduated .

`` In this contract we gave our children a seat at the table , '' he said at a news conference .

Lewis told CNN 's `` Erin Burnett OutFront '' that Emanuel had tried to bully her union members .

`` The mayor had an education agenda he wanted to ram down our throats , '' she said . `` The fact is that we were still able to enjoin our members to move as one . And I think that powerful message -LRB- is -RRB- when you work together , you accomplish magnificent things . We still want to work with the board of education so we can accomplish what 's really best for our kids . ''

Parents and city officials will be happy to send about 350,000 children back to class after they missed seven school days .

`` I 'm just glad that everyone got what they wanted but I just wanted the children to be first , '' Lisa Russell , a parent , told CNN affiliate WLS . `` And I believe they are first . ''

The school board posted a notice on its website : `` Chicago Teachers Union leadership has chosen to end the strike . All Chicago Public Schools will re-open on Wednesday , September 19 , and all CPS students are expected to be back in the classroom . ''

David Vitale , chairman of the school board , said the new deal will transform the school system to the benefit of teachers and students . He acknowledged the negotiations were n't easy .

`` You need to know that our engagement was totally professional , and while it was extremely hard work , the work was done with purpose and with intent , I believe , the get our kids back to school , '' he said .

Darren Tuggle , who has taught high school English for 13 years , said the strike was n't about money , rather it was about classroom conditions . He said that teachers were frustrated with the board , whose members are appointed and most of whom came from business backgrounds .

`` More people are going to stand up to that , '' he said , referring to the situation in Chicago and to what he called the movement toward `` privatization nationwide . ''

He said the move to a longer instructional day was like making a bowl of soup into a larger bowl of soup : It only makes it bigger , not necessarily tastier .

`` We need to really be looking at ways to make things better and doing it in a smart way , '' he said . `` There was no discussion about quality -LRB- from the school board -RRB- . ''

Q&A : What 's behind the Chicago teachers ' strike ?

Teachers walked off the job September 10 , objecting to a longer school day , evaluations tied to student performance and job losses from school closings . Parents have juggled their families ' schedules for more than a week to make sure their children are attended to while schools are closed .

One parent on the impact of the strike

This contract calls for longer school days for elementary and high school-age students , 10 more `` instructional days '' each school year and a single calendar for the entire school system , as opposed to the two schedules now in place , depending on the school .

The pay structure would change with a 3 % pay increase for the first year of the contract , 2 % for the second year and 2 % for the third year . If a trigger extends the contract to four years , teachers will get a 3 % pay increase . Union members would no longer be compensated for unused personal days , health insurance contribution rates would be frozen , and the `` enhanced pension program '' would be eliminated .

Why they teach despite it all

As is , the median base salary for teachers in the Chicago public schools in 2011 was $ 67,974 , according to the system 's annual financial report .

Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard said that the schools had improved measurably in the past year in test scores . The graduation rate was the highest and the dropout rate was the lowest in history .

`` With this agreement now we have the foundation for transformation , '' he said .

For high school athletes , strike could put scholarships on the line

CNN 's Kyung Lah reported from Chicago and Greg Botelho from Atlanta . CNN 's Ted Rowlands , Chris Welch , Katherine Wojtecki and Ed Payne also contributed to this report .

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Union leader says mayor `` had an education agenda he wanted to ram down our throats ''

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Union says teachers , support staff will return to work on Wednesday

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A tentative contract agreement was reached Sunday

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Rank and file still need to vote on the new deal